If current periodicals are to be believed, then we are in the midst of a television revolution, where the medium has for the first time in its existence been granted creative freedom and resources to match those of its more respected counterparts. America in Primetime gives lie to this notion, and suggests that everything happening now has roots in past decades, but is only now being acknowledged by the discerning critical community. But don't take PBS's word for it; nearly every recognizable star from the last decade makes an appearance here to cite their influences and attest to their greatness.
Divided into the broadest possible archetypes ('men' and 'women' are two individual topics), America In Primetime doesn't look to make any bold statements so much as provide continuity across time and genre. Much of that continuity is interpretive and inferred rather than logical (a case is made that Ralph Kramden provided the template for all tv men, right down to Tony Soprano), but everything sounds so much more convincing when Jon Hamm says it, so it doesn't really matter. The affection and reverence on display by all involved (and in some cases, genuflection in the face of greater talent) is always fun to watch, and sometimes surprisingly candid.
Though actors by their nature provide the most entertaining moments, the weight is provided by the veteran show-runners and creators, who relate their successes, failures, and endless battles with their respective networks. Some of the most compelling segments deal with Roseanne and of its star, Roseanne Barr. It's safe to say that Barr doesn't physically resemble most actors a major network will put before its cameras, and that she may have been subjected to a level of personal scrutiny that most performers are not because of it. The elements of the series that were so resisted at first (its deglamorization of the family, motherhood, and working class life) may or may not have been what made it ultimately successful, but they were arguably bolder creative decisions than anything being done in television today, only in a format long since abandoned by the medium's best and brightest. The multi-camera sitcom has been held up as an object of ridicule for about a decade now, but its limitations occasionally produced opportunities for bold acts such as Roseanne clearly represented. It's one thing to hear Eva Longoria and Julianna Marguiles talk about impossible standards being held up for women; it's another thing entirely for Roseanne to challenge them.
Which comes to the other focus of Primetime: television as social history. By any measure, it is imperfect, frequently lagging behind or anticipating social movements, but a case is made for trends in television history frequently being parallel to those in its viewing audience, or at least in its desires and the way that it viewed itself. Homer Simpson may not have actually been a sign of the declining place of men in American life, but enough people perceived him that way that the entire conversation was reframed around him, or even potentially created where there previously hadn't been one. The push and pull between television and its audience is a complicated thing, which America doesn't pretend to understand completely, or even look at uncritically.
For all of the fawning done over the medium's sacred cows, one has to presume that someone out of all those interviewsee didn't like, respect, or appreciate the influence of any of the shows surveyed (Sex and the City and Mad Men could certainly have engendered some more heated debate). As entertaining as it is, America in Primetime often feels like an award show in which no actual awards are presented, and creative types are merely congratulated for their work. The material at hand would seem to invite something more provocative.
SPECIAL FEATURES
There are some interviews that were left on the cutting room floor.
"America in Primetime" is on sale January 17, 2012 and is not rated. Television. Directed by Lloyd Kramer. Starring Alec Baldwin, Andre Braugher, Bill Paxton, Bryan Cranston, Carl Reiner, Danny DeVito, Dennis Franz, Dick Van Dyke, Edie Falco, Elisabeth Moss, Eva Longoria Parker, Felicity Huffman, Jon Hamm, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Julianna Margulies, Larry David, Linda Wallem, Mary Tyler Moore, Michael C Hall, Michael Chiklis , Michael K Williams, Patricia Heaton, Rainn Wilson, Ron Howard, Judd Apatow, Diablo Cody, Alan Ball, James L Brooks, David Chase, Vince Gilligan, Shawn Ryan, Marcy Carsey, Tom Fontana, Marshall Hershkovitz, Mitchell Hurwitz, Steven Levitan, Warren Littlefield, David Lynch, James Manos Jr, Stephen Mcpherson, George Meyer, Sue Naegle, Kevin Reilly, Shonda Rhimes, Roseanne, Philip Rosenthal, Mike Royce, Will Scheffer, Matthew Weiner, Tom Werner, Larry Wilmore.
